


Spotlight

by morrysillusion



Category: Hot Wheels (Movies), Hot Wheels AcceleRacers
Genre: F/M, Gen, NSFW, Other, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 09:26:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14997875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrysillusion/pseuds/morrysillusion
Summary: ON HOLD /// Something was lingering on Taro's mind, he only entered the drones' headquarters for a second but a feeling was stuck... he could not figure out what was bothering him though- nothing *happened* there so what was it? Pushing it back and racing on was what Taro always did, he lied to himself that it would go away and it would be fine. But a gripping nightmare isn't something he will be able to ignore, as things fall into place and he finds himself stuck once again.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> this WILL be smut. either gonna be three or two parts in total, depends on how the next stuff plays out in full.  
> oh god this idea was in my mind after rewatching the scene where Taro get pushed into the Drone's headquarters...im embarrassed to even like..present this, but fuck!! here i am!!! if im the only posting smut in this fandom, ill live up to it.  
> also, ive decided to make them go into a realm not featured in the movies just for the sake of not connecting it to another canon situation/timeline.

It was dark. Taro blinked multiple times trying to find some sort of light but nothing came. It was cold and quiet, he felt himself trying to step back but while it was so black he could hardly even tell. A slight reverberation of his footsteps let him know he was...somewhere. He couldn’t tell where, but the air felt familiar somehow. As he stood in the complete silence, something cool slid past the back of his neck and while he jerked away in response it happened again— and suddenly something smooth wrapped itself around his neck. It was cold and had a metal texture to it. Taro could feel it pressing against his skin. Before he could even react another seemed to go for his arms and pull them back. As quickly as it happened he tried to wrestle himself out but he couldn’t see a thing in this pitch black. It felt pointless as the grip didn’t weaken, if anything it became tighter and tighter until all of the sudden he felt loose and his view brightened for a moment. Taro gasped in a breath of air as suddenly the scene turned to white _and then—_

 

Taro blinked open his eyes, his chest pounding as he found himself laying in bed. For a moment his mind sat there burning with adrenaline until he was able to mentally realize he was just having a dream. He exhaled slowly, tightly closed his eyes for a second before opening them again and sitting up. Taro had no idea where a nightmare like that came from. It was only one night since the Water Realm where he found himself accidentally pulled into the Drones’ headquarters, before backing our as quickly as possible. It was a surprise, sure- but he kind of just left it at that.

 

It was almost 4am, giving Taro about an hour or so until another realm would likely open. The rush of the nightmare practically left him feeling wide awake, and considering the time he felt no reason to try and fall back asleep. _No_ , of course it wasn't the idea he could have another nightmare. Taro pushed his blanket to the side and got out of bed, the unwelcoming cold air of his room making him kind of regret it now, even if it forced him to be even more awake than he already was. He lazily put on some longer pants to go out with and used his fingers to brush his hair behind his ears. He expected he’d go straight from here to the tracks at some point, but didn’t really care too much about making himself pretty for the day.

 

Walking out of his room, Taro just hoped to get a breath of fresh air before they started for the day. While Taro assumes he was the only one out, he almost ran straight into Kirt when he turned the corner into the main garage.

“Oh, hey—“ Kurt started, a little flustered as if he hadn’t expected anyone else. “I’m just...up fixing my car before we get going. Some of those little drone bugs got up inside it.”

There was a short pause before he questioned Taro. “What’re you doing up? No one else on your team is out here yet.”

“Oh, you know… just needed a...break.”

Kurt raised a brow, an amused grin on his face. “A break? From… _sleeping?_ ”

Taro glanced away, knowing full well his vague reason sounded stupid.

Kurt’s joking smile faded. “Did something happen yesterday, in the water realm? We know you went into the drones' headquarters but you didn’t say anything about it.”

“No… nothing ‘happened’.” Taro was slow to start, he didn’t know exactly how to word it. “I went in and I _left_ — but…”

When he paused, Kurt looked at him silently as if just waiting for him to find his words.

“I had this weird dream just now. I don’t know why, but I never had one like it,” Taro continued. “and something in the air just felt exactly the same, even though i couldn’t see a thing.”

Kurt looked distant, as if processing the dream he very vaguely described. “That’s _weird_ … I wouldn’t be too concerned though, it was just a dream after all.”

“Y..yeah, I know. Just… strange, is all.” Taro didn’t look very content on his words, but Kurt wouldn’t push him about it. “I’m going out for some fresh air.” He glanced at Kurt before walking past him.

 

Kurt watched him leave before turning back to his car, hearing Taro’s car rev up in the back before leaving the base. Nearby, Karma was sitting out with a laptop and typing something down. He could only guess it was some stuff about drones she had been studying. He returned to fixing his car until Karma broke the silence behind him.

 

“What was Taro telling you?” She asked. Kurt heard her fingers stop tapping on the keyboard, obviously stopping to put her attention on him for an answer.

“Oh… nothing really.” He didn’t really want to bring attention to their conversation, but he knew Karma was interested by yesterday’s events.

“Was he telling you what he saw in the drones’ headquarters yesterday?” She asked, sounding oddly hopeful for a ‘yes’.

Kurt paused for a second before deciding how he should answer. “Uh, yeah… a little bit. Just saying how he had some weird dream about the place, or something.”

“Hm.” Was the only noise she made in response before the sound of typing returned.

Kurt had no idea what was running through her head, she was analyzing just about every bit of info about the drones it seemed. He didn’t really want Karma going and bothering Taro about the nightmare he had, it was kind of rude to really mention it at all. But knowing Karma, she’d probably bug him about every detail he saw when he went through with the drones the other day while also attempting to decipher his dream.

Kurt continued to his work without much word, marking out the last of the damage the drones had caused. He glanced back at where Taro left. Taro always seemed very secure so it bugged Kurt to see him deal with the drone incident like this- even if Taro still seemed too tough to be bothered on the outside, it wasn’t often Kurt saw him talk about a nightmare that he seemed legitimately uncomfortable with. Taro was still too closed off for him to fully read, but something was off.

 

The sky was a deep purple, in the middle of a weird transition to morning. Stars still dotted the darker side and the sun peeked over the canyons. The air was still cool in the desert. Taro sat on the hood of his car, legs crossed. He drove around the cliff side of Tezla’s base until he reached a nice high point. He thought that maybe this would help him… clear his mind before the next realm. Just a bit at least. But at the same time he couldn’t stop thinking about any of it, about the dream and about the drones, so maybe it wasn’t helping. It wasn’t really about _yesterday_ , but he also didn’t really want to admit a dream had bugged him either. He didn’t get it- it felt like something was just stuck lingering at the back on his mind, waiting for the right moment to act. _Shit_. What was that? He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. Maybe something did get in his head after he went in there…

Suddenly a noise started from his car’s computer, a voice, and Taro quickly got up to listen. Right, it was just Tezla.

“The following drivers will enter the Fog Realm-” the audio crackled through the speakers before continuing. “Nolo Pasaro, Kurt Wylde, Shirako Takamoto, Karma Eiss, Tork Maddox…”

The names went on and on until… yep, there it was- _Taro Kitano_. Not thrilled at the thought of driving right now, but at the same time there was a chance doing so would take all of this off his mind.

  



	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this...took a while. thanks to anyone who read my last part and deep apologies for how long it took to continue, i had a big block on how to progress through this section in detail and writing out cars driving/racing isn't something im very used to. i still feel a little weak with my writing at times, its been ages since i got back into fanfic writing so i guess i still feel like im trying to find my style.  
> also, dont take some canon details/concepts too seriously here- i kinda did a bit of what i wanted to make this work.
> 
> OH and *please* remember this will later be NSFW. Part 3 (final part) will be NSFW. please know what you're reading and what you're getting into.

Tires came screeching around the corners as the drivers found themselves surprised at every turn- they couldn’t see a thing. Grey, rolling walls of fog clouded their vision indefinitely. They couldn’t take their time and ease around the corners when the drones were speeding past their sides, it wasn’t something worth risking if no one could get the Accelecharger. But as the racers progressed, their eagerness to be the first out of the track was leaving them dangerously close to crashing at every turn- there was no way they could see past the fog and make it to the lead.

 

“How are we supposed to even  _ get  _ in the lead if we can’t tell what's coming in front of us?” Nolo’s frustrated voice said from the intercom. 

There was a short silence before Karma came in. “The drones seem to be able to tell what's coming up at every turn, even in the fog. I say we tail them, stay close behind them and follow every turn they make. Hop from one drone to the next until you’re in the lead.”

While Taro listened in silence, he felt a small bit of anxiety at the suggestion. “Isn’t that kind of risky?”

“Well-” Lani’s voice suddenly came from the speakers, “while I can’t see the whole track, our scanners can minorly predict how far you are from the portal. It’s not enough to guide every single racer to the end, but I can warn anyone who’s in the lead so they can rush ahead for the portal before the drones.”

“It’s risky, but we don't have much other choice right now. Tail each drone and move from one to the next. Make sure to listen for Lani.” Karma said as her car raced past Taro and ahead to one of the distant drones. 

Shortly after Tork’s voice came in. “I agree with Karma, this track is dangerous if we don’t know where we’re driving. Maniacs- let's follow the drones and get ourselves in the lead.”

 

Tork and Markie soon passed by Taro’s side. His mind slipped away from the noise of the intercom, where Markie was probably yelling about how he’d take the lead and crush the drones and any Teku passing him. Taro eventually followed behind the other racers, tailing the drones. It seemed like the rest of them had quickly forgotten what happened to Taro when he was too close to the drones, or maybe they were too confident that it would work out fine. He couldn’t help but feel anxious about something going wrong. But Taro continued on, speeding up to keep site on his teammates tail lights before they pushed ahead to the next drone they could make out in the fog. 

 

Lani’s voice suddenly came from the soft static of the intercom. “Keep your eyes out for  _ other  _ drones- they’re probably going to knock you off your course, you could easily get lost in the fog!”

 

The race hadn’t been going too poorly- the plan was solid so long as they could find someone to follow. Drones were still getting on their tails and sending out smaller drones to sabotage their cars, but Tork, Taro and Kurt were keeping up in the front of the race. The three of them were in a triangle formation behind two drones as they raced uphill. The clouds of fog swiftly passed by and seemed to thin out the higher they went, a faint yellow glow becoming stronger until they broke through and the fog cleared away to reveal a high view of the realm. Taro’s eyes quickly glanced around the scene, trying to make out where their exist would be until, in the close distance he could make out the blue glow of the portal beneath the fog. This seemed to be the only portion of the track that rose above all of it. Above the heavy clouds was a golden sunset shining over a dull blue sky, beneath were rows of forested stone-y mountains peeking out from the depths of the fog where the track dipped back under the layers of grey.

 

“Look--” His voice came through the intercom. “The portal isn’t far and i can’t make out the headlights of any more drones down the track. We have to hurry before more get ahead.”

 

However it didn't seem like they were the only ones to notice the goal so close, as the drones sped up on the decline back under the fog. 

 

Suddenly an angry, but recognizable voice came from the speakers. It was Markie, of course. “Why aren’t you guys going any  _ faster? _ You’re in the home stretch, you can leave any  _ Teku  _ in the lead!”

“That's  _ not  _ the goal right now.” Taro sighed, “This track is too risky, we have to play it safe if we even want to get out at all.” Taro tried hard every time to make sure Markie’s abrasive attitude didn’t get in the way of his focus. It didn’t, not this time, but he’d be lying if he is said he enjoyed hearing this sort of rambing every single race. 

“It’s nice to  _ win _ ,” Tork added in, “and I love beating those Teku- but only one of use needs to get through that portal first for it to actually count for anything.”

 

At the sound of a revving engine close behind, in Taro’s mirror he caught a glimpse of no other than Markie Wylde himself- likely having pushed himself head to the front to take the lead, but dangerously not caring about the plan, most likely. More drones tailed him as well, and while the three in the lead could keep following the one they were, it could get messy real fast once those drones moved ahead to attack and push them out of the lead. Quickly, two of the drones came forward, pressing closer to the sides of the three racers. Taro scraped the side of one on the right, before maneuvering back into their formation to closely tail the drone they had been following behind. 

 

“They’re trying to close us in.” Taro said as he glanced at all their sides. “We can’t let them push us into the portal like that, we’ll go into their headquarters by accident like I did.” 

“I’ll try and get one off our tail--!” Kurt said as he slowed down to crash back-first into one of the drones behind them, shoving it from the side and into the wall next to him. 

 

However as one drone went down, another came back up and had Taro and Tork trapped next to them as they tried to raced ahead. Taro had his foot down hard on the gas pedal, doing what he could to push out of the trap the drones were setting for them. He continued to ram into the sides of the one of his right, but it kept its stance well and the tires of Taro’s car screeched as it lost footing- he couldn’t risk spinning out when he was so close to Tork, it would mean crashing them  _ both  _ and losing their place.

 

“Lani!” Kurt’s voice came in. “How close are Tork and Taro to the portal?” 

“It shouldn’t be far,” Lani responded. “The light should be bright enough that you can see it a good distance through the fog. When the portal comes into site, you guys have to rush for it.”

There was a short pause as the drones continued to close in on the two. 

“When we can see the portal, we’ll have to push these two drones to the sides in order get in front.” Taro stated, his eyes set on the track ahead. “Tork will push out to the left, I’ll go for the right. Then we can outrun the last one in front of us with less risk of being pushed through with the drones on us.”

Tork looked over to Taro at his side. “Sounds like a plan.” 

 

If they messed this up, they could easily get themselves stuck in the drones’ headquarters, while also losing the Acceleracharger. It wasn’t too long until the portal could be seen in the distance, and their plan commenced. Before quickly glancing to his left, Taro made his move and rammed into the side of the drone on his right as Tork soon followed and attempted the same. The clash of metal came loudly from both sides as they tried to push the drones out enough that they could slip past the last one in the lead. While the fog still obscured any detail, the sight of the portal was coming in closer and closer and in realizing this, Taro attempted to put his focus back on his speed in order to get in front of the last drones. However, the moment he turned away from the drone on his right, they closed back in, pinning Taro’s car against the side of the drones at an angle, yet again trapping him and Tork against the drones. 

 

“We have to get out of this or we’ll get stuck with them on the other side.” There was urgency in Tork’s voice as the portal closed in on them

Just as they thought they had some hope to get out of this mess, there was another crash from behind them, as another drone tried to secure them in. 

“ _ Shit _ . I don’t know if we can get out of this.” The drones pushed Taro’s car into an uncomfortable angle, tires skidding as they pressed forward.

“Guys! You have to get out--” Lani’s voice popped in quickly as they approached the exit. “We can’t risk you guys getting trapped in the drones’ headquarters--”

 

It was all moving to quickly, there wasn’t enough time to react before Tork and Taro hit the portal and Lani’s voice cut off with static. In a flash, the two were greeted with the dark abstract scenery of the drone headquarters. Coming in at an angle, Taro’s car crashed in and skidded along the smooth metallic road- car flipping almost immediately when it couldn’t keep its footing. Tork came through a bit better- heading out straight and landing with no problem. 

 

From the static of their intercom, Lani’s voice returned but continued to cut off. “You don’t ha-- much time! Get o-- of there-- quick--!”

Tork drifted around the drones that tailed him out of the portal. “Taro- can you manage?” 

“I hope so.” His car had flipped over- his only hope was getting a drone to flip it back over, or for him to use the EDR. “But, I might be  _ stuck _ . Lani, can I use the EDR in here?”

“It’s-- too risky-- you might no-- end up --- at the base.” The static continued to get worse. “Leave howev-- you can-- before the portal-- closes ---  _ then  _ use the EDR--!”

“Tork, get out now- don’t wait for me, I’ll catch up.”

Tork was silent for a moment before responding. “Alright-” Tork sighed as he turned himself towards the portal. “You’re a good driver, I can trust you on that. Get out safe.”

 

Tork’s car quickly swiveled around back towards the portal before booking it. Before Taro had anytime to think, another Drone slammed into the side of his car, flipping it back over once again. While one anxiety was lifted, another quickly followed as he tried to get his car started so he could turn around and leave. However, getting knocked around must’ve ruined something in his engine as his car failed to start up again. One turn- nothing. Another turn- nothing. Third turn--  _ there _ . The engine started to rev up again and Taro immediately hit the gas. The drones were still attempting to throw him off as he tried to make a U-turn back to the portal. He didn’t have much time left.  _ The portal is closing.  _ Facing the exist, Taro sped towards the portal as it started to close up. Tires skidding slightly at each drone trying to get him off balance on his way back, an anxiety deep in his chest as it got closer and closer. Up the ramp and-- and flash, back into the realm-- yes? No? No,  _ no,  _ he blinked and he was just on the other side of the ramp. The portal closed too soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! i have a fanfic blog on tumblr, you can request stuff from me and also donate to me for support!
> 
> As always, do let me know what you think so i can get an idea on my next chapter and hopefully get onto it faster thanks to motivation from people enjoying it :P


	3. This Is Just A Status Update Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS JUST AN IMPORTANT UPDATE TO SAY THIS ON ON HOLD
> 
> keeping reading for more info. this "chapter" will be deleted when i continue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS JUST AN IMPORTANT UPDATE TO SAY THIS ON ON HOLD
> 
> keeping reading for more info. this "chapter" will be deleted when i continue

**11/16/2018 update:**

ah yes, even more months have passed. this work is going to remain unfinished until further notice.

i know how i wanted this to end in a general sense but i currently havent found the right moment of inspiration to do it well.

* * *

 

(old update) Hello yes, I am sorry to make such an update- but i don't want to rush out a new part just to note in the start that i need to put this on hold,

because then i would just be rushing it out to say that instead of taking my time- and i want this last part to be good! 

There _aren't_ a lotta people reading this bc this fandom IS tiny, but if anyone comes across this story and sees I've left it inactive for a while- thats why.

 **However,** this doesn't mean i wont be writing anything under Acceleracers for the time being.

I just need to put this one on "hold" so i can feel free to write other stuff! i hate having the feeling that i _need_ to finish something before i start more.

i just need a break to not feel stressed about this story as i realized im not 100% sure on how it was ending.


End file.
